CCTV pictures show a robbery that took place minutes before Michael Brown was shot
Michael Brown, the black teenager shot by police on Saturday in Ferguson, Missouri, was a suspect in a robbery just moments earlier, police have said.
Police say Mr Brown, 18, was one of two men suspected of robbing a nearby convenience store.
Minutes later he was shot by Officer Darren Wilson after a struggle, Ferguson police Chief Thomas Jackson said on Friday.
The killing sparked days of violent protests in Ferguson.
Theft of cigars
Mr Jackson described the robbery at the convenience store as being committed without the use of a weapon.
Police released to the press pictures of a well-built black man intimidating a clerk in the store.
The report identifies Mr Brown, who is described as being 6ft 4in (193cm) and 292 pounds (132kg), as one of the robbers.
It says he "grabbed a box of Swisher Sweet cigars" and handed them to a second suspect identified as Mr Brown's friend, Dorian Johnson.
Since the shooting on Saturday, Mr Johnson has given a number of interviews in which he has said Mr Brown held up his hands in an act of surrender before being shot by the officer.
He has not mentioned his involvement in any robbery.
Mr Wilson, the police officer said to have shot Mr Brown, is a six-year veteran of the police force with no disciplinary record, Chief Thomas Jackson said.
Mr Jackson said he was treated for injuries sustained during the confrontation with Mr Brown, but he provided no other details of the deadly encounter.
The new man in charge of security at the protests, Capt Ronald Johnson, meets reporters
'Cover up'
Members of the majority black Ferguson community reacted angrily to the announcement that Mr Brown was a police suspect.
"For them to say this is an armed robbery makes me think this is a cover up," Ferguson resident Milton Jackson, 37, told the Reuters news agency.
"I don't believe what the officer did was called for. Even if there was a robbery, it was unnecessary force to shoot an unarmed black man."
The revelations came after days of furious protests in Ferguson over the killing, to which police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
On Thursday night, tension seemed to ease, at least momentarily, as state police took charge of security.
Capt Ronald Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol, an African-American who grew up nearby, was named as the new head of the operation.
The BBC's Aleem Maqbool describes the "extraordinary scenes" in Missouri after state police took charge of security
'Excessive force' criticised
The previous evening, the reverberations from the Mid-west town were felt nationwide with dozens of vigils organised by a social media campaign.
The event in Washington DC was attended by hundreds of people in Malcolm X Park, many holding placards saying: "Hands up. Don't shoot".
Similar vigils were held in New York, Boston, Detroit, Chicago and many other cities.
They came at the end of a day when Mr Nixon likened the scenes of violence in Ferguson to a "war zone" and the police conduct was questioned.
US Attorney General Eric Holder said the use of military equipment and vehicles in Ferguson had sent a "conflicting message", while President Barack Obama said there was no excuse for police using "excessive force".
Mr Obama has promised a full investigation by the US Department of Justice into the teenager's death, and the FBI has launched its own inquiry.
Brooklyn held one of several New York vigils
A march in Ferguson early on Thursday evening had a police escort
Hundreds gathered on Thursday evening at the spot where Michael Brown died
Tear gas was used to disperse protesters on Wednesday night
Michael Brown had recently graduated from high school
Michael Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, during a community meeting on Tuesday
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